Time management is pretty much the same as in Totori. You start with three years, and if you meet your initial population goal (which is not difficult), you get two more years. I never found myself pressed for time in this one, honestly. There are also lots of ways to maximize efficiency. You'll have two Homunculi to help gather or synthesize items, and Meruru has a second equipment screen where she can wear things like shoes to reduce travel time, talismans to increase experience gain, gloves to increase the amount of items gathered, etc. The structures you build also have bonuses, like reducing the materials required for synthesis or giving you money on a certain day every month.

I wouldn't stress about it. It's a lot more forgiving than Rorona ever was. :)

And Totori was exceedingly lenient once you got past the first year or two. As in, "finish everything possible in the game and still have a year left" lenient. That's how it generally is with Atelier titles; usually the beginning is very frantic and you feel like you're stuck heavily under a time limit, doing everything you can, wasting as little time as possible. . .only to have the time limit ease up as you learn the game and progress further.

Great review! I'm so happy to hear such positive remarks about this title!!!

I'm equally pleased to read that I don't need to get through the rest of the Arland trilogy to appreciate this.... I bought both Rorona and Totori determined to make it through both of them before this came out only to give up Rorona halfway through.... I just couldn't take the monotony anymore.... Thus I never made it to Totori (which based on what I read, I would have loved) but was eager to pop this one in as soon as it arrived from Nisa with my lovely barrel! t-shirt :) Happy to hear I can without worrying much...

One final question though, if I do play this first and love it (which I sort of know I will), will going back and playing Totori someday really feel like a regression of sorts?? Silly question I guess since I go back and play ps1 and ps2 games and they don't really feel all too out-dated to me but I thought it was worth inquiring anyhow....

You really should play Totori, Klyde. You'll like it, and it sounds like you already own it so why not? Even if you're getting Meruru that doesn't mean you can't play Totori first.

..........alright....alright... so just give it to me straight.... if I'm gonna try to exercise some patience here and go through to totori should I just bite the bullet and pick up my rorona playthrough again and polish that off?.... well I mean obviously I SHOULD.... but I what I'm asking is do you guys suggest it? I really didn't enjoy it much at all up to about the 5th assignment where I quit..... but this board and its members haven't led me astray yet and I gotta listen to anybody with a kefka avatar.... just seems like the right thing to do.....

Well, I think Totori was a big improvement over Rorona. It's better balanced, flows better, and has a much bigger adventuring aspect. I haven't played Meruru yet, but from what I've read it's not nearly as big a change. In fact a lot of people seem to like Totori more.

So if you don't like Rorona there's no need to force your way through it, but you should at least give Totori a shot.

I was not a huge fan of Rorona. Totori was leaps and bounds better, like Kevadu said, while Meruru's improvements are on a smaller scale. I really think it's the best in the series, but I can see why some people might like Totori a bit more. Remember that there's a prologue in Meruru that will succinctly summarize the first two games.

Also, there is an event in Meruru that spoils the true ending on Totori, so be forewarned.

I prefer Totori myself, because I dislike (the character) Rorona in Meruru. They just butchered her. But I can fully accept that Meruru (the game) is an improvement in many ways.

Other things I prefer from Totori: The music, the atmosphere, the story, and the lead female.On the other hand, Meruru has the infinitely superior cast all around, with most of the best characters from both games making an appearance and having a part to play. Save for Totori and Ceci, I found most of Totori's new cast to be rather dull; Meruru's new characters are almost universally better in that regard.